Rickshaw puller rapes 9-year-old in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur

GUNTUR, ANDHRA PRADESH:  A nine-year-old girl was sexually assaulted allegedly by a 50-year-old man in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur. The incident has sparked violent protests in the area. Locals who blocked a highway till early this morning have set a deadline till 3 pm for the arrest of the accused, who is missing.

The child complained of bleeding and pain in the stomach on Wednesday afternoon, after which her parents took her to hospital. Doctors confirmed that the girl had multiple injuries on her body and had been sexually assaulted. The child, on being asked by her parents, revealed that she was raped by a neighbour, a rickshaw-puller.

The injuries were so bad that the girl had to be operated upon, a doctor said. The child is being treated at a government hospital in Guntur.

Guntur Superintendent of Police, Appala Naidu told NDTV a search is on and the accused will be arrested soon.

Angry protestors have demanded that the accused be hanged. They burnt tyres and raised slogans yesterday. A group also caught hold of the accused man's son and beat him until someone rescued him.

Amid nationwide rage over the gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, the centre recently brought in death penalty for child rape through a special order. The girl, kidnapped by a group to allegedly drive out her Muslim Bakerwal community, was kept sedated and gang-raped repeatedly for days before her head was bashed in.

The executive order, or ordinance, amends the criminal law to also include more drastic punishment for convicted rapists of girls below the age of 16.

The cabinet also recommended mandatory completion of rape investigations within two months and advised that trials should also be completed in two months.